David Weil has been the proud author of the “Ask a Maritime Attorney” column in The Southern California Log Newspaper and Sea Magazine since 2006, with over 300 installments of the column. We have provided links in this section to those articles, covering a wide range of topics of interest to the California maritime and boating communities.

Do maritime liens have an expiration date?

November 20, 2015
I am in the process of selling my boat, and the buyer discovered that a lien had been recorded on the Coast Guard Abstract of Title over 10 years ago. The lien is related to some engine work that was completed on my boat, but...

Understanding marina tenancy

November 7, 2015
I am a 72 year old retiree living aboard my 48 foot sailing yacht in Northern California. Last month I had a dispute with one of my neighbors about a shorepower cord, and several weeks later I was advised by my marina that my...

Read, then re-read your purchase contract

October 23, 2015
We recently entered into a written agreement with a private party to purchase a boat. The “agreement” was a generic purchase agreement the seller found online, and we realize now that it was missing a lot of terms...